The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-09-07

/
craftsmanship.
The cry everywhere is for freedom
| freedom of the press, freedom of speech
! freedom individually and collectively
vet, in the dawniDg reforms nobody /;
willing 10 allow his neighbor the free
dom he 40 voeiferously demands fol
himself. Each shows to the other the
'steep and thorny way to Heaven,
whilst
Himself the primrose path Of dalliance tgeadse
| And recks not his own read"
The freedom Of tho press has wound
ed, sadly, the honor of Mississippi. Oui
State officials are branded as thieVing
set; then how much better can the peo'
pie be who placed them there and en-
dorsed them by re election? By some
sort of a process of metempsychosis
the bitter souls of the Radical era seem
to have been transferred to the bodies OF
our own people when that vicious horde
| beat march 'for better quarters. In
/ Temperance, in the form of vituperation
and recrimination, seems to keep the
factions drunk until, in their wild fits of
delirium- they see g snake in
every action and q serpent in every
smile of their fellow-man. Truth is not
only doubted 'to be liar" but 1t is an
old, antiquated mummy, dried and laid
away in the catacombs of the past. In
the fanaticism of the hour passion has
usurped reasons throne and various sen
timents and isAs stalk forth In dlsguises,
T. lik mighty mob, lynching all its fell
lows that wear not the Jacobite cap.
They are certainly running muck,
! fighting for the glorious love of fight IN
these spicy times.
In the midst Of ali this freedom, Hon.
Jefferson Davis ventured an opinion on
one Of the popular reforms of the day,
after many solicitations to do so. Ru-
.aor and the CLAIMS of each party had
placed him on both sides OF the ques-
ton. He is never on both sides of any
question, so the venerable statesman
made, as he thought, clear his views on
Prohibition and Temperance. He advo-
Gated, as he had always done, Temper
ance, but opposed Prohibition on the
same ground that he had opposed all
other anti-State- Rights principles during
his long public life. His principles had
always been known. There was nothing
new or startling in his avowal of them,
hence, to thinking people, the storm of
indignation that followed was great
surprise. 1t is part of the history OF
the country that Mr.. Jefferson Davis has
ever been Democrat, believing in in
dividual liberty and natural rights =
that the governing power is derived
from the consent of the governed-that
majority has no right to oppress .
minority in defiance of constitutions
protection which has been provided fol-
all alike. He was called upon TO decide
between ais friends, in the difference Of
opinion. He did it brayely and honest
Ily. Then why should we, from whom
he differed, burst forth il torrents oi
Indignation Why not he be Indignant
with us? His right to be SO certainly
equals ours.
As this thing has been taken up at the
North, | will quote a passage from let
ter to a Boston committee, showing
them that their well-beloved LincolI
held the same views of general liberty
Said Mr.. Lincoln: "The principles o
Jefferson are the definitions and axiom
of free society. And yet they are denied
and evaded, with no small show ofsuc
lcess. One dashingly calls them glitter
them self lf-evident lies And others in
sidiously argue that they only apply t
superior races These expressions, diff
fering in form, are Identical in objec
and effect-the supplanting Of the pin
ciples of free government, and restoring
those of classification, caste and legiti
macy. They would delight cenvoca
tion of crowned heads plotting sgains
the people. They are the vanguard
the miners and sappers OF returning des
potism. We must repulse them or the.
will subiugate us. This is a world 0
compensation, and he who would be n
slave must consent to hays no slave
Those who deny freedom to others de
serve it not for themselves; and, unde
just God, cannot long retain it"
From the above it viii be seen tha
Mr.. Davis is not the only man who he'll
/ Eopinions with which the New Yor
Voice says that honorable gentlema
helped ITO damn" Texas
) The Voice also publishes an articl
J from a gentleman of Illinois, in whie
! he says he has Just read the letter of th
ex- President OF the Confederacy, "adve
eating murder, suicide, wife-beatins
/ orphan-m making, and everything else tbs
. | is contained in the criminal calendar.
! Then, says he, 81 denounced the Demo
, cratic party, like the Republican party
4 two of the most damnable frauds upo
. the face of the earth. will join tn
5 Prohibition party for life" 1t is my
? terry where he read that letter, for it
e certain that the ex-PresideBt of thee
/ federacy never penned any such doct
4 he ar
J land it will be well enough for him I
T know that the foremost states1Ian of b
g Town locality held some opinions whic
accord with those Of the sage of heat
$ yoir. These opinions might have save
y the country had Mr.. Douglass bee
e elected in 1860. He said: 81 prefer ii
II position of Senator, OF even that of
e private citizen, where | would be at Iii
" erty to defend and maintain the wei
L defined principles of the Democrat
o party, to accepting presidential nom
II nation, upon a platform inrompatibl
a with the principle of self govelnmen
o or the reserved rights Of the States
Q the perpetnitE of the Union under IL
t. Constitution Let the gallant Illinois
5 go home and sscleave the Douglass head
e (of of the grand monument at Ch
le cago)
Because Mr.. Davis failed to assimila
It his ideas to those of Birmingham
/ Ala, editor, that gentleman says
u would have been better if'the Confede
ate President had @rotted in Fortra
;. Monroe SO confused have terms b
q Iconte that that paper is sailing und
!, the queer misnofner of Christian Adj
ID cdte.
: Those of us who hoped to see our Tel
!. persnce cause succeed by local optis
- and no-license laws, and by that high
:. moral standard which eomes to him vi
:. is created in the image OF his Make
= will be sadly disappointed il that ult
faction OF our party continue TO dri
). many Of the best people from Us by thu
= wild, irrelevant fanaticism, the embo.
= ment of sectarianism, outwardly wei
4. ing the Christians garb.
~ There is law of eternal justice. a.
,d time viii at length set all things eve
,c The feelings that have been aroused
these prohibition matters are the bitt.
est on record; then can their founs
ton rock be Christian principlsss 7
ie- will to persecute Is certainly In exi
al ence, and only the power il lacking.
~ ~ on both sides and Is developing |
ms worst characteristics of men, and mus
sAy It, at women, t00f Ia count
like ours people cannot be forced
OF masses. They are the governing pow
me and will not submit. They must
cal taught, lead and convinced. No law
- earth can Be efIectually executed viii
large minority opposing II. A we'll
70 China and Try 70 force the PA
~ xhfnf fnsnira lhfrbI3 snd E.a4~E NJ